Chapter 1.4, Problem 26E

Stat Bites. Politicians commonly believe that they must make their political statements (often called sound bites) very short because the attention span of listeners is so short. A similar effect occurs in reporting statistical news. Major statistical studies are often reduced to one or two sentences. The summaries of statistical reports in Exercises 25–28 are taken from various news sources. Describe what crucial information is missing in the given statement and what more you would want to know before you acted on the report.

26. Top Restaurants. CNN reports on a Zagat survey of America’s top restaurants, which found that “only nine restaurants achieved a rare 29 out of a possible 30 rating and none of those restaurants are in the Big Apple.”